


Nervous

by JRaylin441



Series: Briareus [18]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: But Al comforts him, Ed is having a rough time, F/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Phone Calls, So it's mostly all good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7261843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JRaylin441/pseuds/JRaylin441
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alphonse gets a call in the middle of the night, which is honestly never a good sign.</p>
<p>
  <i>"Hello Brother! How are you? How's Winry?" Getting Ed to talk about a problem was a skill developed over the years through extensive trial-and-error. Step one: pretend everything is normal.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nervous

Al woke from a deep sleep, swathed in silk sheets and fuzzy dreams, to the sound of the phone ringing. Mind still clinging to unconsciousness, he stumbled to the gilded table holding the phone.

" _Hello?_ " The Xingese greeting slid out.

"Hey, Al. It's me." Ed? Instantly, Al's mind snapped to attention. It was the middle of the night and, while it wasn't nearly as late in Amestris, Ed would never make a mistake like that. Overprotective, mothering figure that he was, a call at this hour could only be an emergency.

"Hello Brother! How are you? How's Winry?" Getting Ed to talk about a problem was a skill developed over the years through extensive trial-and-error. Step one: pretend everything is normal. Going straight for the problem would make him clam up in a second.

"Things're fine. How 'bout you? How's your alkahestry research going? You sleeping enough? Eating enough? If they're not giving you enough to eat, just get more. Ling owes us after all the damages we had to pay for." Al pulled the receiver away from his mouth so he could heave a sigh. Then, scrunching his toes deep into the rich carpet on the floor, he settled in for a  _long_  conversation.

"The research is going great! Mei and I have really just been perfecting it since we last talked. We're trying to make sure that all of our results are repeatable before we try to streamline anything. The Emperor is being more that hospitable. With him around, the cooks make sure there's enough food. I've been sleeping really well too. The beds in the palace guest rooms are really comfortable." For a moment, Al had been tempted to throw out a teasing remark about this phone call being the biggest interruption to his sleep so far. But that would make Ed feel guilty, and he would fall over himself apologizing until he convinced himself not to talk about whatever was bothering him.

"Great. That's great." Ed's voice was slightly dismissive, as though his mind had been elsewhere, and that was a terrifying warning sign. Because Al had been Ed's world for years to the point that he had trained himself to concentrate every ounce of his overwhelming focus on his brother every time he talked. That kind of conditioning was difficult to override.

"Are you sure everything's alright, Brother?" And here it was. The hook.

"Course it is. Just wanted to talk t' my little brother!" Ed was getting blusteringly offended, and that was the sign to sit and wait. Al drummed his fingers along the edge of the table and let the expectant silence grow.

"Hey, Al?"

"Yes, Brother?"

"Do you remember what Dad was like?" Oh. Oh no. This was going to be bad. Al sunk down to the floor, dragging the telephone with him, and leaned against the table.

"Brother?"

"I mean, I know you remember what he looks like 'cause there's pictures of him 'n stuff, but do you remember what he was  _like_?" Al went to answer the question, but Ed started talking again before he could. "'Cause I was thinking about it tonight and, you know, he was always running from place to place and tryin' to fix these huge problems. Got caught up in big picture stuff and forgot about dumb things like eating and sleeping and his family. S'just, he always  _said_  that he loved Mom, but he just got distracted by everything else and forgot to come home." By the end, Ed was trailing off, out of steam.

"I remember, Brother. Why are you asking about this?" This was mostly off script at this point. Ed never wanted to talk about their father. All Al could do was listen closely and try his best not to say the wrong thing.

"'Sjust," and here Ed paused to let out a hiss of breath. "What if I don't just  _look_  like him. Al,  _what if I don't just look like him_?"

And there was the heart of the matter. No matter what had brought it on, Ed's self-depreciating mind could drive him to conclusions like this all the time. This was a bit more extreme than normal, but it was all the same in the end.

There was no way to do this without making him angry. "Brother, you're nothing like Dad."

"But I am!" Ed's voice had taken on the edge of hysteria that meant he was desperately looking for someone to convince him he was wrong about something he was sure was right. "I haven't sat still for years! First it was the military sending us all over Amestris, but after that  _I_ was the one that kept it going for my research. And you  _know_  that I'm always forgetting to eat 'n sleep when I get caught up in something. Who's to say that I won't wake up one day 'n decide to leave town and let Winry wait for me?" By the end, he was gasping for air, as if the confession had taken his breath with it.

And now it was time to comfort him. Normally, Ed was very receptive to flattery, puffing up at every compliment, whether it was true or not. But when it came to serious problems, Ed did not want platitudes. He wanted nothing less than the ruthless, stark truth.

"It's true that you're a lot like Dad when you get focused on something." Ed growled down the phone, as if the validation had attacked him. "But as far as I know, that's where it ends. I don't know how you can claim to be worried about leaving your family behind after what we went through. We spent years with just each other for company, and you never once tried to leave me behind. Hell," and he would scold Al for that later, "the first thing you did when you called, even though you were clearly dealing with stuff, was pester me about my health. More than that, it's been almost a year since I left and you have called me every other night, without fail, to talk.

"Brother, you've stayed in contact better than  _Ling_ and I'm living in his home. When you care about someone, I've never seen you be anything but loving and protective toward them. If there's one thing that you don't have to worry about, it's abandoning your family."

There was a momentary pause while Al collected his breath and his brother collected himself.

"…There's no way it's been almost a year." Al huffed a laugh and smiled in relief. Ed was making jokes. Everything was going to be okay.

"It has! I left just after the wedding, remember? And that was in July. It's June now." There was the sound of muffled cursing on Ed's end and Al let out a real laugh. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"No!" He was panicking. "I mean, not  _really_. I knew in theory that the anniversary was in July. I just didn't realize that it was so  _close_."

Al loosed one more chuckle before sobering. "Brother, you've been married for almost a year. In all that time, have you ever felt like you had to leave Winry?"

"No." His voice was wondering. "I haven't."

"Exactly." It was all going to be okay. The crisis had been averted. For a moment, the two brother sat in their different corners of the world, simply savoring in the connection.

"What brought all this on, anyways? You never think about Dad."

"Oh." It sounded like there was something caught in Ed's throat. "Winry's pregnant." It was hope like a broken bird, trapped in his voice.

"I'm gonna be a dad."


End file.
